


Metathesiophobia

by Katemcl09



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-29 01:55:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20074219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katemcl09/pseuds/Katemcl09
Summary: (Name is undetermined and will likely be changed)Michael was popular. Jeremy was not. Michael had too many friends to count. Jeremy had one, and that one friend didn't even go to his school. Michael was generally well liked. While not explicitly made fun of, Jeremy was not.Neither of the two could really remember the last time the other wasn't around in some way or another. They've only had a few conversations here and there. Michael walked on a thin tightrope with the friends he already had. Being more that just socially acceptable to the school loser could cost him more than he would gain. Sure, it was a simple and petty reason, but Michael was afraid of change, and would rather do as much as he could to avoid it.





	1. Prologue

Michael was popular. Jeremy was not. Michael had too many friends to count. Jeremy had one, and that one friend didn't even go to his school. Michael was generally well liked. While not explicitly made fun of, Jeremy was not.

Neither of the two could really remember the last time the other wasn't around in some way or another. They've only had a few conversations here and there. Michael walked on a thin tightrope with the friends he already had. Being more that just socially acceptable to the school loser could cost him more than he would gain. Sure, it was a simple and petty reason, but Michael was afraid of change, and would rather do as much as he could to avoid it.

Yet still, they've always noticed each other. There was a sense of comfort in being able to see the same faces every day, regardless of how those faces saw you. Michael and Jeremy just fell into each other's categories for that. The two boys knew they had a bit in common, though. Small conversations and a couple randomly assigned partner projects led them to find out about a few small similar interests. Nothing really blossomed from these interactions, though. Michael's friends wouldn't allow it.

Michael loved his friends. They were nice to him. They never left him out or alone, engaged conversation with him, and they gave him small gifts on his birthday and Christmas and such. He was close with some of them, like Chloe Valentine and Rich Goranski, but he didn't really have one true best friend he could tell everything to. He desperately wanted to have someone like that. But Michael was afraid of change, and making new close friends meant a change he wasn't ready to take on.

He had made a couple friends over the internet over the years, bonding mostly over things like video games, but those friends moved on eventually. Both Michael and his internet friends would wind up with things to do and run out of time to text each other. They would drift apart. Michael didn't mind much, though. He never took it very hard. The changes like that would always end up with him just going back to how things usually were.

Jeremy, on the other hand, desperately wanted change. He craved to wake up one morning to something big in his life being completely different. He didn't know where to start. Starting at school was nearly impossible. He could barely ask to borrow a pencil without stumbling over his words and making a fool of himself. It's not that he was shy, just awkward. If someone else put in effort too, he could hold a fairly decent conversation for hours. His friend, a girl named Christine that transferred out of his school the year before, says that he just needs to find the right group of people that'll help him put himself out there and change his reputation. Jeremy knows she's usually right about things like this, but it's hard to find the 'right group of people' when nearly everyone in the school internally rolls their eyes when you approach.

Jeremy was not bullied. Sure, people thought he was weird and awkward, but it didn't take a genius to crack that code for him. He knew it himself. His interests weren't very mainstream. His clothing wasn't much to be in awe at. He was average height, and a bit skinnier than he should be, but that's just due to a fast metabolism. He was Jewish, which isn't very important now that he's in his teens, but he definitely still remembers being very young and having other kids in his preschool and kindergarten classes asking why he didn't celebrate Christmas.

Michael was one of those kids. It was ugly sweater day at their preschool, and Michael had asked Jeremy why he didn't have a Christmas sweater on. That was Jeremy's first time having to explain the whole Hanukkah thing to someone, when he was four and barely understood what was going on himself. He remembers pretty vividly what sweater Michael was wearing that day, simply because his four year old self found it so absurd. It was an obnoxiously green sweater with a snowman in the middle saying 'Let it snow!'. One of his moms had managed to get working Christmas tree lights all over it, as well as a couple jingle bells that rang whenever he moved his sleeves. The noise was a nice distraction for the day.

Michael Mell having two moms was fairly common knowledge by this point in time. When he was young, he didn't quite understand that his home situation was different from most, so he often talked about it like everyone had two moms. Those who've been around Michael since that age wound up spreading it around to new people as they went through new grades and schools. It reached a point where those who didn't know Michael well would sometimes refer to him as 'the kid with two moms'.

Michael would be lying if he said he didn't feel the absence of a father figure. It wasn't so much anymore, but he has vivid memories about being sad or jealous over the matter in grade school. He loves his mothers more than anything in the world, and would never wish for anything other than what he has now that he's older, but sitting on his own doing separate activities while the rest of his class was working on Father's Day cards always made him pretty bummed when he came home. The sadness usually went away pretty quickly though, replaced by a promise of ice cream after dinner.

Jeremy lived with just his dad. His dad was overall pretty okay, and Jeremy knew he was trying his hardest to be a good single father. Jeremy's mother died when he was thirteen. She passed from a tough case of pneumonia she didn't think was too bad until it was too late. Jeremy's school made a card for him and tried to get everyone in his grade to sign it and write a little note if they wanted. Michael didn't write a note because he didn't know what to say, but he made sure his name was the biggest one on the card.

Michael always did things like that for everyone. He had a big heart. That's why so many people liked him. He always seemed so bright and cheerful, it was hard not to love him. He always tended to stick out like a sore thumb from the rest of the popular kids. He didn't seem to really dislike anyone at the school and never really took part in spreading drama. He didn't have nearly as much clothing as everyone else he was friends with, often cycling through the same ten or so outfits, most of which included the same red hoodie he had been collecting patches for for about two years now. Michael wasn't even really remotely close to what most at the school considered to be 'cool'. He was into older retro things, like NES games and long expired snacks and soft drinks. No one seemed to mind, though. He was nice and reliable, so he was kept around.

Jeremy had the same traits and interests, but he was the school loser. No one gave him much of a chance, so socially, there was nothing special about him. Jeremy wanted desperately to be more than just a blank face to everyone else around him.


	2. Jeremy's bi

"I'm bi."

"Huh?" Christine looked up from her homework, gawking a bit at the friend she had on video call.

"I just thought you should know."

"Wh– Are you sure, Jeremy?" The girl paused for a moment. "That sounded homophobic. I'm not, good for you and all, but you've never shown any interest in a guy before. Unless you have a crush you haven't told me about, in which case we're not friends anymore."

"There's no one specific," Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Boys are just like, nice, y'know?"

"That's the gayest thing you've ever said to me."

"It was supposed to be." Christine smiles lightly in amusement, focusing her attention back to the paperwork in front of her. "Does your school offer Forensics?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm taking it next year if I survive Chem. I need someone to complain with."

"Why are you taking it if you know you're gonna complain? You only need three science credits."

"Yeah, but it looks good for college. Plus, I complain about every class, but I still take them."

"That's because your dad would kill you if you even thought of dropping out."

"Yeah, but I don't think of dropping out. I complain ironically."

"I've known you since middle school, Jeremy," Christine hummed. "You don't do anything ironically."

"You don't know that!"

"What else do you do ironically, then?"

"Lots of things," Jeremy defended, crossing his arms.

"Like panic when someone asks for a pencil in the wrong tone?"

"Now you're just making fun of me." The two continued to banter for a few minutes about pointless nonsensical flaws, like Jeremy's hair being 'too brown' and Christine's general theatre obsession. They only stopped once Christine's father got home from work, calling her downstairs so he could take her to her rehearsal for a local theatre company.

"Bye Jere~" She hummed, Jeremy only having time to wave lightly before Christine hung up. The boy sighed lightly, locking his phone and moving from his desk to his bed to plug it in. Jeremy tended to not really leave his room besides for necessities like chores or using the bathroom. His dad complained to him sometimes about how he never went out, but he didn't exactly have anyone to go out with. Christine was usually busy with things like homework or some new play she was a part of, and when she did spend time with friends, it was usually with other girls that shared more of her interests than Jeremy did. The two of them made it a goal to hang out at least once or twice a month, and they were good at keeping it, but they usually ran out of things to do together fairly quickly, since they talked so much over the phone.

Jeremy really needed more friends.

That was hard, though. School was absolutely out of the question for that. His dad usually offered at least twice a week for Jeremy to do some kind of extracurricular activity, claiming he "doesn't pay for anything other than doctor's appointments" for his son. Jeremy's thought about it a bit before, but it's always wound up with him wallowing in his own self hatred and anxiety for not being good at something. He knows no one is good at something right away, but he doesn't want to be made fun of by people who are better than him.

Ah, irrational but terrifying fears.

Jeremy sighed, opting to scroll through social media to pass the time. Normally, he'd be wasting hours away playing video games. Currently, however, the games he would like to play most are practically unplayable. They're all stuck on levels that are not-technically-but-absolutely impossible to beat without someone else to play with, and it sucked ass for him. The only person who was a little bit willing to play with him was Christine, and as much as he loved her, she was horrid at video games, and also not currently available. So here Jeremy was, looking through his Instagram feed.

He had been graciously permitted to follow most of the kids in his grade on most social media platforms. Not because they were particularly fond of him, but because loser or not, he was still an extra follower and like on their accounts. Jeremy was essentially doomed to look at everything his peers did without him when he opened the app. He had seen more than enough pictures of the more popular kids throwing ridiculous parties and updating people on it every twenty minutes. Sometimes he really just wanted to delete every social app on his phone to ignore it all, but he didn't. He really wanted to be able to see what his own life would be like if he ever got his magic ticket into the popular group.

The only person who didn't seem to post drunken parties every weekend was Michael Mell. He never really posted much at all, really. Only on holidays, or when he got a new patch for his quite signature red hoodie. There were only a couple out of place pictures, like one of him playing some video game with Rich Goranski, another popular kid. The two had dated for a few months and mutually agreeing to break it off, both finding the relationship more awkward than anything else. That was almost a year ago now, and Rich had gotten a few more girlfriends over the time while Michael stayed single. The gossip of the school, Jenna Rolan, said he had his eyes on someone, but that no one knew who. Jeremy thought that sounded like a brewing pot for unnecessary drama.

Michael had also always been nice to Jeremy whenever they interacted, so he stood out to Jeremy. There were never any kinds of insults under his breath or dirty glares. He was just friendly. Jeremy appreciated that. He would like to talk to Michael more, since he was basically his only shot at some kind of friend in school, but Jeremy knew he could never because Michael had popular friends and a reputation he probably had to spare. It was a nice thought, though.


	3. Michael's Party

Michael opted out of parties usually. It's not that he didn't want to hang out with friends, nothing like that really. He just preferred to stay home, where it was almost always quiet. Something about the loud music and overly sexual drunk teenagers just turned him away from the situaion. All of his friends practically fully expected him to turn down every party invite, but they always invited him anyways. So, when he actually agreed to come to one, it was a bit of a shock.

And that's how he got where he is now. Practically clinging to a wall at a party watching everyone he considers a friend make mistakes they'll regret in the morning. One of which being a pretty shitty hangover. By this point Michael was the only one who hadn't chugged an unhealthy amount of alcohol. He preferred getting high. The whole process and effects of getting high were all around less uncomfortable than those getting drunk.

Michael really wanted to leave. He's never been the life of the party or anything like that. He always had a couple conversations with people drunk out of their minds, but nothing sustainable for more than thirty seconds. This is why he never really went. He felt bad about staying home constantly, though. The most entertaining part about them was hearing the gossip going around and pinpointing a bunch of holes in whatever he was being told.

"So apparently," Jenna Rolan started, talking to a group that had somewhat formed around Michael, to include him in the conversation without making him move across the house. "Jeremy Heere managed to get a girlfriend."

"What?" Chloe Valentine, the school's main diva, practically snorted. "He's a total creep!"

"I though he was gay at this point," Rich Goranski snickered along with Chloe. "Who's this mysterious girl?"

"Christine Canigula," Jenna continued. "The pretty girl in the Drama club that left last year."

"She got with him?" Chloe gaped a bit.

"Where'd you hear this from?" Michael hummed lightly.

"I know some girls from Christine's school," Jenna responded. "They say she's always talking about him."

"I didn't realize he even had any friends," Rich added. "He's a total loser. I'll mention it in school on Monday."

"I think you should leave him alone," Michael commented, getting a bit of a weird look from Rich. "Just this once," He added quickly. "I mean, if Jenna knows, then everyone's gonna know by Monday. He probably would've heard it a thousand times by then."

"What's got you so suddenly defensive over him?"

"Am I being overly defensive?" Michael furrowed his eyebrows, stuffing his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. "I'm just trying to be nice, y'know? Just one time. Let him work this one out without extra stress."

"Does Mikey have a thing for Jeremy~?" Chloe slurred, laughing a bit.

"I haven't spoken to him since last year when we were in the same group for a history project."

"That doesn't mean you can't have a thing for him."

"I don't have a thing for him. You make it sound like you want me to. Don't you hate him or something?"

"I mean he's weird," Chloe nodded. "But I don't hate him."

"According to Jenna, he's already taken anyways. Don't too deep into your weird fantasies," Rich commented.

"Oh my god, I don't have weird fantasies. I'm trying to get Michael another boyfriend. He hasn't had one since you two broke up like, two years ago."

"Ten months," Rich and Michael responded at the same time, looking at each other and laughing. Their past relationship was more or less a joke now, and didn't impact the fact that they were still close friends. "I don't need another boyfriend right now, Chlo," Michael continued.

"I think your singleness is getting to you."

"You shouldn't date Heere anyways," Jenna added in after staying quiet for a bit. "He'd make you all weird too."

"I don't think that rubs off on people," Michael crossed his arms, leaning up against the wall he was near.

"I dunno. It might."

"Jenna."

"Sorry, sorry," The girl just laughed. Michael just sighed lightly. Things like this happened often. His friends would start making fun of or insulting someone he didn't mind, and he would wind up trying his best to either get the attention off said person or defend said person. It was a bit of a game that he was getting tired of playing. He was happy where he was, though. He knew he was lucky to be floating outside the wrath of he peers. He was never bullied because of his association with the more popular kids in school, and he also never bullied others because he never saw the point in it.

He was basically the odd one out in his friend group. He knew that. His friends knew that, too. But they still let him stick around. He was almost like a breath of fresh air for them. Michael was just so different from them, but they still got along well when no one was drunk and out of their minds. They were more often than not pretty tolerating of his 'weird' interests. Michael generally enjoyed playing out-of-print games and retro things, having somewhat of a collection of long expired and discontinued things from the 90's. He even convinced his moms to let him get a Pac-Man tattoo for his sixteenth birthday. His friends didn't seem to mind this stuff about him. He'd even managed to convince Chloe to try Apocalypse of the Damned once or twice. She was pretty obviously uninterested, and even jokingly made fun of Michael a bit afterwards, but it happened.

It made the fact that they made fun of Jeremy worse. Michael hadn't seen Jeremy show much interest in really anything that he wasn't also interested in. When they had worked on projects together in the past, they often got side tracked talking about what new games were coming out and things like that.:

Michael didn't know what came over him suddenly. He took his phone out, going to his messages and starting a new conversation with someone who's number he got in Freshmen year for a science project.

**To: Christine Canigula**  
_Is Jeremy doing okay?_


	4. Lunch Time

"Why did you ask Christine about me?"

Michael only heard a muffled voice through his headphones, snapping his head up to see that Jeremy Heere had spoken to him. He quickly scrambled to take his headphones off. "Huh?"

"Are you gonna pretend you didn't just to–"

"No, repeat," Michael said quickly. "My headphones are noise cancelling, I couldn't hear you."

"Oh!" Jeremy paused for a second. "Uhm– It's nothing, I can just go–"

"Jeremy, you never just talk to me out of nowhere," Michael sighed. "What's up?"

"You uhm- You asked Christine about me?"

"You can sit down, y'know," Jeremy quickly took his backpack off, awkwardly sitting down across from Michael, who usually sat alone at lunch to avoid listening to gossip. "People were talking about you. Nothing bad per-say, I was just like, checking in, y'know?"

"You asked her if she was my girlfriend."

"I was high and that's what they were talking about."

"Your friends think I'm dating Christine?"

"Jenna Rolan told me she has friends at Christine's school, and that Christine told those friends you were dating."

"Oh my god," Jeremy seemed to crumple up a bit, holding the sides of his head in his hands with his elbows on the table.

"Are you alri–"

"You're gonna use this to make fun of me, aren't you? We're not even dating but you're gonna keep spreading stuff and–"

"Jeremy," Michael interrupted. "I don't care about either your relationship status or spreading rumors. I've never taken part in any of that. Please just calm down."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you're fine."

"I'm overreacting."

"Jeremy, you're fine," Michael repeated. "You have a right to be freaked out."

"Hey, Michael!" A female voice called, Michael looking behind him just to see Brooke Lohst take a seat next to him. "Chlo's flirting it up with Jake Dillinger again. I didn't wanna stay in case they started eating each other's faces."

"Hey Brooke," Michael smiled lightly. "Still no gossip?" Neither of the two of them were very fond of gossip, so they had a mutual agreement to not mention anything bad when it was just the two of them. Brooke came to sit with Michael fairly often.

"Nope. You're sitting with... Jerry..?"

"Jeremy.." Said male corrected softly. He was never very good at socializing, particularly with popular kids.

"Right, sorry. Jeremy. I'll remember that," Brook smiled lightly. "What were you two talking about?"

"Uhm.."

"Jeremy had a question about Pre-Calc. Whether we had homework or not. Then we started talking about video games."

"There's not a test next class, right?" Brooke furrowed her eyebrows lightly. "I haven't studied for anything. My grade in that class is already low enough."

"You're a straight A student."

"I have a ninty one! That's cutting it close."

"I would kill for a ninty one." Jeremy smiled softly at the two bickering over grades, keeping his gaze down at his own hands on the table and fiddling with the sleeves of his blue cardigan.

"You don't like talking all that much, huh?" Brooke turned her attention to Jeremy, who snapped his head up quickly.

"H-Huh?" He said quickly. "Oh, uhm, I-I guess not.. No one really listens."

"I'll listen," Michael hummed. "I've never really seen you try to talk much in the first place."

"I guess I kinda just gave up halfway through middle school."

"Do you have anyone to talk to?" Brooke frowned.

"My friend Christine, I guess. We never really hang out in person, though."

"You can start talking to us if you want."

"I dunno.. I don't really fit in.."

"What!? We have like, the same personality!" Michael laughed.

"What?" Brooke raised an eyebrow. "You're an obnoxious little shit."

"Ow."

"Jeremy's a good person."

"He is not!" Michael argued. "We played video games as his house once instead of the project we should've been doing and he is the worst person I have ever met."

"You're still mad about that!?" Jeremy groaned. "I got a higher score than you once!"

"I didn't even know you could yell," Brooke laughed a bit. "Michael gets upset when someone's good at video games because it means they take away his bragging right."

"I do not!" Said boy argued.

"And now he's defensive."

"I don't get defensive over video games!"

"You're being defensive right now as we speak."

Jeremy laughed loudly at the two arguing, hiding his face in his arms and catching both Brooke and Michael a bit off guard. For the most part, Jeremy's reputation was that he was fairly quiet and unnoticable, so it came as a bit of a shock to see him opening up so quickly. Michael smiled softly, resting his head in his arms and watching the other boy. He often found many things Jeremy did a bit cute, though he wouldn't say he ever had a crush on the boy. He personally preferred to get to know a person first.

"Brooke, Michael!" A voice immediately recognized as Chloe Valentine's was heard behind the two being called. Jeremy looked up again, pulling his cardigan sleeves over his hands a bit as Brooke and Michael both turned to face Chloe. "Why are you sitting with him?" She hissed a bit. Jeremy seemed to shrink back slightly.

"I consider him a friend?" Michael raised an eyebrow. "Well, we don't really talk that much. We're more like aqu– pals. Me and Jeremy are pals."

"I came to sit with Michael rather than watch you and Jake make out. Jeremy was just here too." Brooke responded as well.

"Whatever," Chloe rolled her eyes lightly. "Brooke, come back when you're done hanging out with the weirdo squad." She was partially joking. Both her and Michael knew that they'd move on from today like nothing ever happened. Chloe knew that Michael never cared much for status, so wasn't ever really surprised to see him hanging out with some of the lowest people on the school social ladder.

Michael knew Chloe too well to be angry at her for her behavior sometimes. She was genuinely a nice person, but she was afraid of losing status and therefor found it important to do everything in her power to keep it. Michael understood this, since he was rather irrationally afraid of most change, status just happened to not be on the list. He also owed Chloe a lot. She had been one of the main helpers in keeping both his and Rich's sexualities and relationship a secret. Though there were few homophobes in their school, those who weren't supportive were often vicious about it. Neither Rich nor Michael really wanted to deal with anything like that.

Chloe even agreed to pretend to date Michael for three weeks when people started to get suspicious of him and Rich. The relationship consisted of them spending a weekend going over each other's houses with multiple changes of clothes to stage different times of hanging out together. They put more effort than they should've into this, going as far as to plan clothes for the whole three week period so outfits lined up. No one believed for a moment that the relationship would last long, but it kept Michael's public 'straight' reputation going strong, which was all they needed out of it.

"Bye, Chlo," Michael waved when the girl left. "Jeremy, you good?"

"M-M'fine," Jeremy nodded. "Really, I am. I'm used to it by now. I just didn't expect her to get mad at you guys."

"She'll be mad for the next five minutes. We're too close for her to let who we sit with at lunch impact our friendship."

"Why are you friends with her in the first place..?"

"We've just kinda known each other for a while and we grew closer. I owe a whole lot to her now, too."

"Didn't you guys date for a bit?"

"A few weeks, yeah. It wasn't really that serious, honestly."

"Oh."

"I think I'm gonna go back with Chlo," Brooke announced, grabbing her stuff and standing up.

"Peace," Michael flashed the girl a peace sign without turning to look at her.

"Never do that again."


	5. Try Something New

"I talked to Michael Mell today," Jeremy mentioned suddenly. He and Christine agreed to hang out after school that day, since they were both free. They went to the local park of their town, and were taking up part of the swing set at the playground.

"Really? The one that texted me?"

"No, the other one, Christine." Jeremy rolled his eyes lightly, Christine nudging his arm lightly in response. "People think we're dating."

"You and Michael?"

"Me and you."

"People there remember me?"

"Apparently. It's a rumor, I don't know how it came about," Jeremy shrugged. "I don't really think it's much of a big deal, honestly. You were pretty well liked so it's not like it's ruining my reputation any more than it already is. Plus I guess it'll keep me closeted for a bit longer, too."

"If you don't want to shut the rumor down I'm fine with it," Christine shrugged. "I'm just not fueling it. We're not taking any kind of cute kissing pictures or something."

"Obviously not," The boy rolled his eyes. "I think Jake Dillinger had a thing for you. I don't know if he still does, but hey, maybe I'll be a little cooler now. I only told Michael we weren't dating when I mentioned him texting you."

"I told him we weren't dating too. He just asked out of the blue, I didn't realize it was a whole rumor going around."

"I kinda freaked out on him a bit, though. Like, saying he was gonna make fun of me about it and stuff."

"And now here you are speculating if it could be good."

"Yeah, pretty much. I plan on apologizing for freaking him out."

"Do you actually know if you freaked him out or not?" Christine raised an eyebrow.

"Nope."

"I think you need to relax a bit. Not everyone is out to get you, Jeremy."

"I know that, but sometimes it just doesn't really seem true," Jeremy shrugged. "Everything's just kept spiralling downhill since my mom died. I know my dad is trying but he's not really there either. It's been three years now and he can still barely find the motivation to put on pants."

"I'm sure it's really hard to lose someone that important to you."

"You make it sound like she wasn't my mother."

"I know you're still more upset than you let on."

"How could I not be?" Christine fell silent, pushing her feet on the ground a bit so the swing she was sitting on would move some more. "Sorry. It's just hard, I guess. It's like I'm still waiting for her to come home, y'know? I keep waiting for her to walk in one day like she just came home from work and that's all this has been," Jeremy shrugged lightly. "It's still just so hard to accept. So yeah, it does kind of feel like the world is out to get me."

"You're absolutely allowed to think that, this isn't really ever going to stop being awful. Just keep in mind that the world won't fall apart," Christine responded softly. "It only feels like it will. You're gonna push through, Jeremy, you're stronger than you think you are."

"How long have you practiced that one?" Jeremy smiled lightly.

"Not at all, you ass!" Christine lightly hit the boy's shoulder, pushing off the ground again to swing a bit more. "I really think you're due for something good, Jere. You deserve it."

"You think so?"

"Of course I do."

~~~

"I'm home!" Michael called out, locking the front door behind him.

"Hi sweetie!" One of the boy's mothers called from another room. "Mom's at work, she's bringing dinner home with her!"

"Alright, thanks Mama!"

"School any good today?" The woman asked, walking into the kitchen with a smile on her face. "Anything new?"

"It was pretty good," Michael shrugged, opening his fridge to find a snack. "Jeremy Heere sat with me and Brooke at lunch today."

"The one you always said was cute when you were younger?"

"Yes, that one," The boy rolled his eyes lightly, his cheeks turning a bit pink as he closed the fridge and went to search a cabinet. He settled on a store brand honey bun his mom bought to save money from name brands.

"Was he nice?"

"I don't think he's ever been mean in his life. I haven't seen it, anyways."

"Are you interested in him?"

"I haven't been interested in anyone since Rich, Mama," Michael rolled his eyes lightly. "I like to get to know people before developing crushes."

"You've been talking to him your whole life."

"Not really meaningful conversations. Just asking about projects we get paired on and stuff."

"I definitely caught you two playing video games together a few months ago."

"We finished our work on our project and his dad was still at work. We just have the same gaming interests."

"He might like all your retro stuff too."

"I dunno. I haven't really seen him show much interest in that but I could be wrong."

"I think you should try and get closer with him, he's a good influence on you."

"My other friends are nice too."

"I know, to you. It would be a change of pace to be friends with someone outside of that group, too."

"We don't get much of an opportunity to talk," Michael shrugged. "He's scared of most of my friends and I don't think they're really fond of him either. That would mean I would have to dedicate an unspecified amount of time to either just Jeremy or just my other friends when we plan things."

"I don't think you should be limited to just one friend group. You've always been a social person, Michael. You like people and people like you."

"Mama, I don't really need some kind of life talk right now. I'm happy with where I am."

"Just, try something new for a change, yeah?"

"I'll think about it," Michael shrugged, taking his honey bun down to his room, which was the basement. He already knew he wasn't going to think about it, and he was sure his mother knew too. Michael was scared of change. He's been that way his whole life and that likely wasn't going to be different any time soon.


	6. Rumors

The news of Jeremy sitting with Brooke and Michael at lunch spread around the school like wildfire. By the next morning, Jeremy was getting multiple times the amount of attention he was used to from his peers, and none of it was really good attention. As the story stood by that point, Jeremy had nearly forced the two of them to sit with him, refusing to leave when they asked him to and threatening to report bullying if they left on their own. It was an overwhelming amount of toxicity that Jeremy most definitely wasn't used to dealing with.

No one really knew who started the rumors. Chloe was the only one who appeared to really pay attention to them, and she wasn't one to start things. She usually only passed things others told her on. Plus, she knew starting something like this would only piss Michael and Brooke off. So the person who started this remained a mystery.

Michael remained pretty in the dark about the situation until second period. He walked by Jeremy on the way, and smiled and waved at the boy. Jeremy only glanced at him sadly and kept walking by. Michael asked Jenna about it, since they had the same second period.

"Madeline said you told her Jeremy was forcing you and Brooke to sit with him," Jenna answered. "Which means someone else told her, because you wouldn't say that. Chlo and Brooke already said they didn't do it."

"Who even cares enough to start something like that?" Michael groaned. "We're gonna have to deal with the guidance counselor and stuff as soon as a teacher hears about this."

"Talk to him at some point asap. Make sure he knows it wasn't you so that this whole thing is in your favor. You're kind of a victim here too."

"I'll try to. He might wind up trying to just avoid me, though. I don't really know how he reacts to these things."

"Do you have any classes together?"

"Not until after lunch today."

"Talk to him at lunch, then."

"If he'll let me."

"You won't get anywhere with low confidence like that."

"Tumblr disagrees."

"You don't have a Tumblr," Jenna raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah but low confidence is like an angsty relatable teenager thing," Michael said quickly. "Tumblr is full of those."

"Just talk to Jeremy before it's too late."

"Roger that."

"Roger that?"

~~~

"Fucking move, fag," A voice hissed from behind Jeremy almost as soon as he sat down. "Sitting here doesn't mean you can force us to talk to you too." Jeremy tensed up a bit, quickly grabbing his lunch box and standing up again. It was the table he usually sat at alone every day, but he wasn't going to argue and risk getting beat up again. He already has some well formed bruises and scratches from before first period, as well as a black eye. Jeremy was afraid of getting others into trouble, so he did his best to hide everything and came up with excuses when teachers asked.

For a moment he wondered about CPS being called, but that thought was quickly pushed aside by the fact that he knew he wasn't abused and could easily disprove any accusations.

Jeremy bit the inside of his lip lightly, deciding it was in his best interest to just eat in the bathroom. Sure, it was gross, he knew that, but he'd rather that than getting relentlessly attacked for something he didn't do. "Hey, Jeremy!" He heard a voice that was pretty quickly recognized as Michael, just brushing it off and walking through the cafeteria quicker. He didn't want to deal with whatever excuse Michael had for him today.

Jeremy had planned to just keep quiet in a stall, but the plan shriveled up pretty quickly as soon as he locked the door. His vision almost immediately blurred with tears as he sat down. He tried to wipe his eyes but it didn't help much. His breathing became a bit erratic and he felt a panic attack coming on, which only really made his state worse.

His panic attacks were becoming more frequent, and it was scaring him quite a bit. He didn't really have a clue as to why people disliked him so much, but it was getting to him more and more as time went on. He started to hiccup a bit, pulling his knees up to his chest and hugging them.

"Jeremy?" Michael's voice echoed throughout the bathroom. Jeremy hadn't heard him come in. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm not," Jeremy mumbled. "I don't want to talk to you."

"I know what a panic attack sounds like, Jer. Let me help."

"It's your fault in the first place!"

"Jer–"

"You didn't have to lie to everyone like that!" He continued. "You could've, you could've just told me to go away!"

"Jeremy, open the door please?"

"Just fuck off!"

"Jer, it wasn't me," Michael sighed lightly. "This could be just as bad for me when administration finds out it's a lie. Plus people who are just blindly following what others say are gonna get defensive of you and be mad at me once that gets out."

"Maybe you should find out what it's like! You, you don't have anything going on and it's not, it's not fair!"

"You don't know a thing about me, huh?" Michael almost laughed quietly. "I've spent as long as I can remember being raised by two moms in a homophobic area, Jer."

"At least both your parents are alive."

"I never had a dad in the first place."

"I barely have one anymore."

"Don't say that," Michael frowned lightly. "I'm sure he loves you."

"He doesn't try."

"Can you open the door, please..?" It was quiet for a moment before the click of the lock was heard and the door was opened, revealing Jeremy, who seemed to have calmed down from his panic attack, but was definitely still crying. "Hug..?" Michael didn't get a verbal response, but Jeremy was pretty quick to hug him rather tightly. Michael hugged the other boy back lightly, biting the inside of his lip and rocking back and forth a bit to try and calm Jeremy down.

"M'sorry," Jeremy mumbled.

"You're really alright, Jer. I'm sure a whole lot sucks for you right now. You haven't done anything wrong."

"I feel like I did.."

"People are just assholes sometimes."

"You're friends with them."

"I don't really talk to anyone outside my close friend group," Michael shrugged lightly. "Wanna come over today or something..?" When he didn't get an immediate answer, he hurried to continue. "I mean, if you want to. And can. I was just think that maybe I could try and cheer you up a bit. Play video games and stuff?"

"I'd like that," Jeremy nodded lightly. "I'd really like that."


End file.
